Forty-eight Years Ago

 It was 1969 that I had last been at the Isle of Wight Festival, and on that day it was Pete Townshend sitting where I am sitting now. The Who were on stage in one hour. 

 On landing, the Who's helicopter rotor blade hit the corner of a canvas marquis and tore a huge strip out of the side. I hoped our landing would be less eventful.

I was ready to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival.  

 More reports from the Iberian Peninsula coming soon! 

M.D.C.

Thirty Five Years

 It's hard to believe that Jimmy and Pete have been gone so long. The resting places of my dear friends are close to where I now live, and I visit them often. They are always with me.

Photo: Martin Chambers

  This week in scorching heat in London, we are in rehearsals to tailor the different shows for different audiences. They are also different length sets so we must pay close attention to timings.

 The months of June and July are our busiest until a comparatively leisurely mince through August.
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 I look forward to seeing your smiling faces again at some of these approaching shows and maybe back in the States next year!!
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Take care of yourselves and I will blog again soon.
     

M.D.C.

In and Out of Europe

 

The Pretenders are now touring Europe and we have already played a few great shows including the Harley Davidson show on the beach in the South of France. And I do mean ON the beach. Luckily the Mediterranean Sea is not tidal!

 It's a lot of traveling but when you're on a flight to the Isle of Wight Festival in a Helicopter, it's not so bad. I was up front with the pilot which reassured the rest of the band in the back!!!
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   Our next gig is at Glastonbury on Friday 23rd June, followed by the Werchter Classic in Belgium the following day with Guns and Roses. I haven't seen that outfit for a few years and it will be good to catch up with them all.  

                                                                                    M.D.C.

Martin Chambers Featured in 'Rhythm Magazine'

Martin is featured in the May issue of 'Rhythm Magazine'! The issue is available for purchase here:

https://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/music/rhythm-magazine-back-issues/ 

RAH, London 10.4.17

Since the night of the 4th of April I had managed only an average of three hours sleep a night, and two hours on the flight home. By the night of the show at the Royal Albert Hall on the 10^th, I was seriously sleep deprived but not yet hallucinating. 

  

The Royal Albert Hall is a very special place to play and I’ve been lucky enough to have performed there on three previous occasions. It proved to be a spectacular night with everyone  raising their game,especially Chrissie and James(because Chrissie had told him Jeff Beck was in the audience)! Ricky and Nick were on fire and I, of course, at one point played the TROMBONE for the first time.

 

Photo credit: Peter Amodio

YES the trombone as part of my intro into ‘Middle of the Road’….you just had to be there!! Luckily there is photo evidence! My father who played the trumpet at the RAH with the ATC band in the late forties/very early fifties would have been so proud!!

 I will post again when we start the European Tour in a month or so that kicks off with the Harley Davidson Festival in the South of France at St. Tropez on May 13th. The stage is on the  beach!

Love,

M.D.C.  X

Terminal 5 & Nassau Coliseum

 This latest North American tour was one of the hardest ever. After rehearsals in Reno primarily to put a show together for the Royal Albert Hall on April 10^th, we kicked off well but it wasn’t long before I caught something from the cold arenas we were playing, and soon we were all sick. Even the normally bullet proof voice that Chrissie possesses was in trouble. We ended up cancelling five shows overall. This is unprecedented in our history. I battled on against the cold drafts that distracted me and covered up best I could, resorting to wearing my robe whilst playing. Even with heaters behind me it was hard work.

 We ended up getting back to 85% for the Terminal 5 show in Manhattan on April the 3rd. When we arrived for the sound check for that one, we walked into the gig to see our sound man Pete Bartlett on Bass, my drum tech Davey Latter on drums, and John McEnroe on guitar playing ‘Purple Haze’!! It was a great way to start proceedings in NYC.

Photo: Valerie Simadis

  I had invited the legendary Seymour Stein who signed us to his Sire Records label all those years ago along with The Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna (well three out of four ain’t bad). He was in attendance above stage left. He also hung out with us backstage after the show along with my good friends Johnny Mc, eminent photographer Bob Gruen, my former record breaking DJ friend Anita Gevinson and many more. It was a night to remember, especially as I may have been the only one who was aware that exactly thirty seven years earlier Chrissie was arrested by the cops in Memphis, TN (and thrown in clink for the night!!).

  On the 5th of April, we flew up to Manchester, NH for the

penultimate Stevie show.

Photo: Valerie Simadis

We were now all feeling a lot better after our illnesses and psychological trauma of letting down the fans. On the return flight to the Nassau Coliseum the weather was very bad and our flight was delayed for two hours. After a further delay, our trusty tour manager booked a private jet to get us to the show on time. The aircraft was small and the captain looked sober so we took off into the ‘whiteout’ for forty minutes and arrived safely just in time for a brief sound check.

After Chrissie and Stevie did the duet, which was the third song in the set, Stevie invited us lads onto the stage to take a bow because it was the final North American show. Stevie is truly a great girl. It was a pleasure kissing her in front of 10,000 people and thanking her band(and of course a special thank you to Ricky Peterson who helped us out on keyboards for a few shows.) Stevie loved my 24 karat ‘Vans’ I had worn for the shows!!
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Then it was back to the hotel for three hours sleep before our flight to the UK.
A special thank you to all our fans that came out to see us in North America on this troublesome tour. My humblest apologies for the cancelled shows and all your inconvenience, but over thirty nine years to have only ever cancelled a total of seven shows, I guess it’s a good average.We will always do our best for you.

Big love and thank you.
M.D.C.

Down Time

From the morning of Thursday the 16th of March, I had felt the onset of a cold. The gigs were fine but I was feeling the cold breeze from behind me during the performances, some of which were ice hockey arenas with a huge block of ice in the room!

I gradually got worse and by the show in Raleigh on the 19th, I was doing all I could to keep from going under. Hot baths and showers were the order of the day, but by Orlando on the 21st it had become very tricky. I was so cold that night I wore my robe during the show, something I had never done before. 

I remember that night as we came off stage telling Chrissie to 'cover up'. When you come off stage you always feel invincible and bullet proof, but that is the time the cold/virus/infection can jump on you. Sure enough, the following night Chrissie was too ill to sing and we haven’t done a show since (despite attempting a soundcheck).

So I have spent a lot of time staring at a pile of bubbles in the bath and contemplating the next gig. It’s a strange and unsettling feeling being on tour and not being able to play. It results in too much time in hotel rooms going nuts.

Now Chrissie has a confirmation of her infection and with regards to her latest blog, I’m sure we can pull through this unprecedented period of inactivity on the road.Mark my words, It’s a lot harder for the singer than the drummer to busk it. 

Thank you all for your understanding and support. 

MDC